Photo: Anna LoPinto

It’s a hot July afternoon in Nashville. Cumulus clouds flirt with the possibility of becoming rain clouds, a hint of impending storms. Singer-songwriter Nicki Bluhm gazes up, “I was hoping to mend the horses’ fence. Maybe this weather will hold off.”

Clad in patched pin-stripped overalls, carrots neatly tucked in her breast pocket, and her red heeler, Birdie, at her heels – Bluhm is relaxed yet observant at her farm just east of town. A tall and elegant dark-haired beauty commonly compared to Cher, Bluhm exuberates an easy energy earned through hard work. Beyond her own catalog of critically acclaimed albums and viral videos, she is on the vocal shortlist for musical greats. Bluhm has shared the stage with The Infamous Stringdusters, Little Feat, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir. Most recently, she sang the guide vocal tracks for Riley Keough (Elvis’s granddaughter) in Daisy Jones & The Six, and is the muse for the regenerative-minded luxury leather brand Range Revolution. 

As we walk from the back stoop of her brick tudor towards the barn, we pass her pool and gardens to the left and her studio, Rancho Deluxe, to the right. We then approach the rear end of the property, walk through a wooden gate hugged by honeysuckle, and arrive at the horse pasture.

Walking in Bluhm’s backyard is like walking through the microcosm of her mind, a gorgeous swirl of music, horses, and the outdoors. An equestrian and a well-respected artist originally from Northern California, Bluhm came to Nashville nearly a decade ago after a divorce and, in turn, the dissolution of her band, Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers. Staying at a fellow artist’s home, Langhorne Slim, in the “Little Hollywood” neighborhood of East Nashville, Bluhm set up co-writes and prepared for a new album. 

This was to be an album with a new producer, a new band, and a new sound. It was a brave act after ten years of both marriage and touring with all familiar faces. Her ex-husband (Tim Bluhm) historically worked as her mentor, producer, and bandmate. After a divorce, Bluhm needed a personal metamorphosis. “Looking back now, I think, how did I do that? I left my band of origin [The Gramblers], which was made up of my ex-husband and my childhood friends. It was ten years of touring, playing, and drama. In my view, it had come to a natural end. When I moved, I wanted to shed the baggage. I didn’t want anybody to know me or my story. I needed a new start.”

The result was one of her most thoughtful and popular albums, To Rise You Gotta Fall, released in 2018. Produced by Matt Ross-Sprang at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, the record was marked by hard goodbyes and new beginnings. Followed by Avondale Drive in 2022, Bluhm created another album (this time produced by Jesse Noah Wilson and recorded in East Nashville) about self-discovery and relying on yourself. 

Once in the horse pasture, underneath the oak trees and next to the robin egg blue barn, we are greeted by a bay mare (Omega) and a sorrel gelding (Mo). Bluhm begins to brush them, and I can see her visibly exhale. “Horses are grounding for me. Being with them is the most grounding thing I can do. Music can be so cerebral. It’s so infinite. You’re never done with something. You’re always thinking, striving, and trying. It’s hard sometimes to feel progress or completion. But with horses, you can see something to completion. You put up a fence, you lay down a sand paddock, you groom a horse. Those are all things that you can do and be done to completion.” 

Bluhm is on a long list of artists who find solace in horses and the outdoors from the demands of the music industry. Famous country singers with a soft spot for their equid companions include Tanya Tucker, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Tyler Childers, and Shania Twain, just to list a few. Sometimes, it seems that stardom, at its worst, can be the extreme of superficiality; horses offer the antithesis.

Photo: Anna LoPinto

“Being with horses is overwhelmingly just picking up shit. Managing the shit. Turning the shit. Moving the shit. It’s just so much shit,” Bluhm shares with a laugh. This is a philosophy she has a good handle on. Before her music career, Bluhm worked as a full-time groom in Rancho de Santa Fe, California. There, she managed a high-end jumping barn with eight horses, organized vet appointments, farrier visits, masseuses, and acupuncturists, and exercised the horses. “Grooms are caretakers of the horse’s well-being. It’s like keeping cars really dialed in at the shop.” 

Bluhm’s connection with horses became the catalyst for her curiosity about ranching practices and admiration for individuals working in agriculture. Specifically, it fostered her friendship with entrepreneur-minded Cate Havstad-Casad. Havstad-Casad is the powerhouse behind Havstad Hat Company, Casad Family Farms (along with her husband Chris), and her most recent venture, Range Revolution. 

The pair initially met at a Bluhm concert in Bend, Oregon, and immediately bonded. “Cate has a great energy, and I was always impressed with her work ethic. I would watch her step out on such limbs, like even mentoring under a grumpy old man to make hats. She was so committed. And then joining her husband who is a farmer, and jumping right in. I’ve always admired her willingness to continue to be a beginner and learn these major steep learning curves. And she just kept doing it.”

The two were in each other’s periphery for several years until their bond was solidified in 2023 during a serendipitous moment at Lisa and Duane Bett’s Horseshoe Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Before her performance, Bluhm saw another hatmaker, Christy Sing Robertson, wearing a mahogany crossbody bag, of course, it was one of Cate’s. “I saw that bag, and I immediately wanted to buy it. Cate ended up sending me one, and I fell in love with it.”

For Bluhm, the bag was the best of both worlds; it was functional and beautiful. Revered for her style, a guiding principle of Bluhm’s wardrobe is simple, “I always want to be able and ready to jump on a horse.” She explains with a smirk. “I never want to miss that opportunity. I love that combination of high and low. I would say Ralph Lauren is top of the mountain for me. Just his whole aesthetic and approach to having something look really beautiful, but have it be really functional.”

This ethos is reflected in Bluhm’s interiors, too. On the wall of her home is an oil painting of a bay horse; on the shelf is a stack of thrifted vinyl; and on the antique French farmhouse chair, an orange tabby cat is curled up on its seat. Her home is polished but practical, with a lived-in feel. This practicality is part of the beauty. Like how well-worn silver keeps its polish or a well-used saddle doesn’t squeak, these pieces are meant to be used. “And that’s what I also love about Range Revolution. It’s high-quality, luxury pieces made out of homegrown hides. So it’s just incredible to me. That high, low contrast–nothing can be too precious.”

Photo: Anna LoPinto

Founded in 2021, Havstad-Casad’s creation of Range Revolution had a deeper motivation than just creating a luxury leather line for consumers, it was also to address and challenge a flawed system. On average, over 5 million cattle hides are discarded yearly in the US alone, and those used for leather goods typically travel 21,000 miles before becoming a finished product. Range Revolution utilizes hides from ranches in the United States, decreasing the number of miles traveled, as well as saving thousands of hides that would otherwise be discarded. In addition, hides are sourced from holistically managed American rangelands verified by the Savory Institute.

When Havstad-Casad officially launched her line in the spring of 2024, she approached Bluhm to be the face of the campaign. “Cate told me they were shooting the line, and they’d like me to be the muse. I was so flattered. Especially when I learned more details on the ethics of the line, I couldn’t get more behind it. And that’s what I love about Cate–if she sees a problem, like the waste of hides and the massive carbon footprint–she doesn’t get depressed and sad, she decides how she can be one spoke in the wheel to help make the change.” 

The campaign, dubbed “Keep on Growing” after a song on Bluhm’s forthcoming album, launched May 28th. A portion of the proceeds from Nicki’s favorite pieces and the download of her song will be donated to Women in Ranching, a nonprofit that empowers women land stewards and ranchers. The song handpicked by Havstad-Casad is an anthem of resilience and hope, a fitting choice for a company boldly changing antiquated design practices while celebrating old-world quality. 

It is also a brilliant song for Bluhm’s current season of life. After decades of touring, a complicated divorce, and a new home, one can’t help but feel her well-deserved joy. As the lyrics of “Keep on Growing” courageously share:

I have cried for the rain

I have bent to the wind

I’ve lost myself in someone else

And crawled back again

So don’t forget who you are

Look out to where you’re going

Keep on growing up to stay young

There’s no way of knowing

As we finish our walk in Bluhm’s backyard, I can’t help but survey the world she has created, with an equal dose of envy and pride. Her life at home has an unmistakable rhythm, purposeful zen, a perfect location to record her forthcoming record.

“We spent seven days on the album and made it here at Rancho Deluxe. I could get my chores done in the morning, and ride. Then it was time to be in the studio. I mean, it was like a dream in play. I get to make my record, and do my chores. I realized, Oh my God. It’s really happening.” 

That afternoon, I pull out of Bluhm’s driveway, the clouds still a bit menacing. When I get home, I get a text from Bluhm. A photo of barbed wire she removed from her fence, neatly rolled. The rain held off.

If you’ll reap what you’re sowing

Just keep on growing and pray for the sun